Pharmaceutical intervention and method for treating an apraxia of speech in children

ABSTRACT

A pharmaceutical intervention and therapeutic method for treating an apraxia of speech in children. The child can also be diagnosed with gait abnormalities or impairment autism, mental retardation and dyslexia. If the child demonstrates at least an 18 to 24 month development stage of either verbal development or non-verbal development, a therapeutic dose of a dopamine agonistic, particularly a nonlinear lower alkyl phenidate or dextro-threo-methylphenidate is administered to the child.

PRIOR RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional patent application of continuation-in-part patent application Ser. No. 14/736,406, filed Jun. 11, 2015, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,220,712. Application Ser. No. 14/736,406 is a continuation-in-part application of Ser. No. 14/112,065, filed Dec. 24, 2013, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,089,563, which is a U.S. 371 application of PCT Patent Application No. PCT/US2012/038312, filed May 17, 2012 which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/487,847, filed May 19, 2011. Application Ser. No. 14/736,406 is a divisional application of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/453,014, filed Aug. 6, 2014, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,155,502, which in turn is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. Ser. No. 14/059,541, filed Oct. 22, 2013, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,883,815, which is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 14/112,065, filed Dec. 24, 2013, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,089,563, the entireties of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference thereto.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to the treatment of speech and language learning impairment in children. The present invention specifically relates to a pharmaceutical intervention and method for treating an apraxia of speech in children.

2. Description of the Related Art

Current clinic diagnoses for cerebral dysfunctions are generally categorized according to a child's behavioral symptoms. Apraxia or an apraxia of speech is characterized by loss of the ability to execute or carry out learned purposeful movements despite having the desire and the physical ability to perform the movements. Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is characterized with the co-existence of attentional problems and hyperactivity. Mental retardation is a disorder characterized by significantly impaired cognitive functioning and deficits in two or more adaptive behaviors, generally with an Intelligence Quotient score under 70. But it is not caused by in coordination, sensory loss, or failure to comprehend simple commands. Aphasia is characterized as an inability to produce and/or comprehend language. Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behaviors. Dyslexia is characterized broadly as a learning disability that impairs a person's fluency or comprehension accuracy in being able to read, and which can manifest itself as a difficulty with phonological awareness, phonological decoding, orthographic coding, auditory short-term memory, or rapid naming. The descriptions of each of these diseases are overlapping and ambiguous. Almost all of these diseases involve certain level of language learning impairment.

Due to the lack of systematic methods for differentiating the neuronal physiological causes of these abnormal symptoms and behaviors, many early childhood development problems may thus be miss-treated. Infants, toddlers, children and adolescents who have disorders with speech, sound production, vocabulary building, difficulty with understanding the spoken word, clarity of speech, word retrieval, organization, reading fluency, word decoding, reading comprehension may also possess similar behavior symptoms as those of mental retardation, autism, emotionally disturbed, dyslexia, laziness and stupidity. For example, an impairment that inhibits or delays a child's early language learning ability, such as failure to acquire consistency in sound production, vocalization of consonants, vowels by early infancy will prevent a child from the development of the child's intellectual comprehension of commands and intellectual capacity. This could lead to the subsequent lack of emotional and social interaction skills, leading to clinical diagnosis of autism. But this child may have a level of other normal brain functions, for example, the part of brain that allows for normal non-verbal development and thus has the potential to be restored with medical treatment.

However, current methods of therapeutic treatment are mostly focused on behavioral and physical therapies, or strictly focused on language training. These physical trainings alone may not be sufficient for children with certain level of brain dysfunctions. Mistreated children may miss their critical development and learning stages, resulting in permanent behavior impairment.

The two cerebral hemispheres in humans are structurally and functionally asymmetrical. It is well established that the right brain hemisphere sustains the functions necessary for survival, such as visual-spatial and emotional abilities while language abilities such as grammar, vocabulary and literal meaning are typically lateralized to the left brain hemisphere. During growing up, the development of the two brain hemispheres may be differentially affected or impaired by combination of many random factors. However, the left and right brain hemispheres may compensate each other's functions to a certain level with the correct use of medicine and physical trainings. It is possible for a language learning ability impaired child with a level of normal development of non-verbal functions to be medically induced to establish the positive-feedback of language learning.

Thus methods are needed for characterizing the level of a normal development of a language learning impaired child; and the combined medical treatments based on the biochemistry of the brain functions provide a novel option in addition to physical therapy and language training alone.

ASPECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present application discloses a novel method that dissects the causes of a child's abnormal development problems into verbal and non-verbal development associated causes, particularly an apraxia of speech and provides a psychostimulant treatment that diminishes the speech impairment.

In one embodiment, children of age 2-12 also having clinical symptoms of autism, dyslexia, mental retardation, and other language learning disabilities are observed and tested on their verbal and non-verbal abilities. Children with verbal impairment but having a level of functional normal non-verbal capabilities are selected for psychostimulant pursuant to the present invention.

In one aspect, the aforesaid treatment includes the administration of a dose of dextro-methylphenidate, particularly dextro-threo-methylphenidate.

In another aspect, the aforesaid treatment includes the administration of a therapeutically effective dose of a nonlinear lower alkyl phenidate.

The treatment with a psychostimulant particularly including a dopamine agonist induces the establishment of the necessary positive feedback mechanism in the brain for the child to further develop his or her whole potential. This feedback enhances and persists even after the dopamine agonist is no longer efficaciously present.

The above and other aspects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals designate the same elements.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The disclosed application will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, which show important sample embodiments of the invention and which are incorporated in the specification hereof by reference, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a graph of the parallel verbal and non-verbal developmental stages in a normal child.

FIG. 2 is a comparison of the reading abilities of a group of children with a various diagnosed symptoms between pre-treatment and after-treatment with one dosage of 5-7.5 mg of methylphenidate.

FIG. 3 is a comparison of the reading abilities of another group of children with a various diagnosed symptoms between pre-treatment and after-treatment with one dosage of 5-7.5 mg of methylphenidate.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of the invention. Wherever possible, same or similar reference numerals are used in the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts or steps. The drawings are in simplified form and are not to precise scale. The word ‘couple’ and similar terms do not necessarily denote direct and immediate connections, but also include connections through intermediate elements or devices. For purposes of convenience and clarity only, directional (up/down, etc.) or motional (forward/back, etc.) terms may be used with respect to the drawings. These and similar directional terms should not be construed to limit the scope in any manner. It will also be understood that other embodiments may be utilized without departing from the scope of the present invention, and that the detailed description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and that elements may be differently positioned, or otherwise noted as in the appended claims without requirements of the written description being required thereto.

The terms “first,” “second,” “third,” “fourth,” and the like in the description and the claims, if any, may be used for distinguishing between similar elements and not necessarily for describing a particular sequential or chronological order. It is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable. Furthermore, the terms “comprise,” “include,” “have,” and any variations thereof, are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions, such that a process, method, article, apparatus, or composition that comprises a list of elements is not necessarily limited to those elements, but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, apparatus, or composition.

Early childhood language learning impairment will not only interfere the child's ability to develop a working vocabulary of the mind to be present at least by 2 years of age in order to understand what other are saying, but also the ability of the child to call upon specific words in response to specific questions. As a result, many of these children by the time of 2 years of age show symptoms of autism.

Apraxia used herein is defined broadly as the breakdown of motor planning and execution at the super segmental level of the central nervous system in the presence of normal or sub-normal motor and sensory functions. Speech apraxia in the pediatric population demonstrates symptoms of speech delay, problems in word recall, word sequencing, unintelligible speech, auditory processing, dyslexia. The present invention is directed towards treatment methods of apraxia of speech conditions in children younger than about 12 years old. The children may also be clinically diagnosed with other disorders, such as dyslexia, autism, mental retardations, or certain chromosome defects.

The method mainly comprises identifying an apraxia child patient who demonstrates a certain level of normal development of non-verbal functions, in addition to physical and language training, and also providing a medical treatment of a form of dopamine agonist drugs, such as methylphenidate (MPH), nonlinear lower alkyl phenidates, Dextroamphetamine (Dexedrine), or Gabapentin.

Human speech production, more importantly, consistency in sound production, depends on the sequencing, timing coordination of neural impulses under the direction of the frontal cortex. The frontal cortex is responsible for controlling the lung to send a defined volume of air, travelling at a specific velocity, resulting in vibration of the vocal cords. The transformation of this volume of air speeding into an acoustical sound is further shaped upon entering the oral pharynx where a specific change in the muscles of the oropharynx interacting with the fixed anatomy of the teeth, gums, etc. refines the sound into specific words.

It is the ability to be consistent in sound production that allows humans to use words, to understand others, and to be understood by others, to organize a dictionary of words/sounds in the human minds, to learn to read, to decode novel words by segmentation, and to understand novel printed words by having instant access to a well organized dictionary of sounds, of words.

Apraxia of speech in children may be related to many categories of diseases, causing delayed or under-development of human intelligence. For example, the inability to develop vocabulary and meaningful communication may cause a child to be socially isolated and be diagnosed as autism, mental retardation or dyslexia, and the like.

Apraxia of speech in children causes disorder of cognition, reduces the child's potential intellectual development, depriving them of their ability to speak, use words, make their wants known, reciprocally communicate to others. Because of the lack of positive-feedback to these children, they will appear to have more severe degenerative diseases.

Simply, the child who never develops clear speech will be diagnosed by his worst symptom. More than likely these children become disconnected from others because others are no longer aware to use gestures with joint attention, with pictures to visually communicate after most if not all of these children turn 2 years or older. What the child thought he heard himself saying or thinking he said is not what others heard or perceived. Soon the child is diagnosed as being part of autistic spectrum of disorder.

Novel application of stimulant medication to treat apraxia of speech in children, such as use of methylphenidate and dextroamphetamine, therefore is inclusive of any and all part of the apraxia pyramid independent of any and all associated medical disorders including autism, mental retardation and cognitive impairment.

A psycho stimulant, such as methylphenidate, Dexedrine, by physically playing a role in restoring neural connections, improving cognitive function, allows the normally functioning part of the brain to establish the base level of language learning needed for further learning ability development, establishing the positive-feedback mechanism in the brain for long term development and self-healing.

The apraxia-related disorders can be “mild” to “severe.” For example, a subject suffering from an apraxia-related disorder may be able to speak intelligible or semi-intelligible words, but the order or sequence of the words or events depicted in the words may be disrupted. On the other end of the spectrum, the subject may be unable to form any intelligible sound such that verbal communication is difficult or impossible. As reflected in the child's inability to use language according to rules of language, failure to recognize there is an orderly sequence when people reciprocally communicate with each others. For example, of subject, verb, object, syntax, prosody of speech, stresses of words etc.

It has been established that the Broca region of the left brain hemisphere is largely responsible for the verbal related functions. And the right brain hemisphere is largely associated with non-verbal related functions.

In reference to FIG. 1, it shows the standard and accepted timeline of verbal and non-verbal development in infants and children and the timing of theory of mind. The left side shows the normal timeline of non-verbal development, and the right side shows the normal verbal development in early childhood.

For example, at 4 months old, a child is able to make cooing sounds; at 6 to 9 months old, a child is able to be babbling and chattering; at 9-12 months old, a child is able to make out consonant-vowel-consonant and a single word; at 18 months old, a child is able to make out six words; and at 2 years old, a child is able to make out 20-300 words. At 3 to 5 years old, a child is able to make a sentence of several words and capable of reading and reciprocal communication.

On the other hand, for the normal non-verbal development, a child from theory of mind of 0 month develops to make truncal and zaxial movements to adjust when picked up at 4 months; at 6-9 months age, a child is able to make joint attention such as peek-a-boo; at age 12 months old, a child is able to respond to one single command, recognize the presence or absence of loved ones and pincher grasps; the action becomes interactive; at 18 months old, a child is capable of imagination and identifying body parts; at age 2 years old, a child is capable of memory of two shapes and fine motor skills.

The inventor discovered that this development chart can be used as a guideline to identify the level of normalcy of a child, and in selecting a potential candidate patient child for medical treatment.

The inventor discovers that independent of age, intellect, disease states, if the child is able to function on any level at 18 to 24 months of age, either for the verbal or the non-verbal development, medical treatment in combination with physical and language training dramatically improves the child's language ability and later development.

Knowing that an average 2 year old has a vocabulary of between 50 and 300 words using 2 words together, an indication of a level of brain normal functioning, the medication will therefore enhance the frontal lobe to restore function to at least begin to hear these children vocalizing consonants, vowels, imitate the instructor, not just spontaneous but in response to the stimulus provided by the instructor. Using the developmental parameters at the nonverbal left side of the graph, the inventor was able to predict more likely than not would respond to the medication treatment with a dopamine agonist.

The nonverbal milestones can include receptive abilities', the ability of the infant to appropriately respond to changes in facial expressions of parents, to share experiences with their caregivers not to just make demands between the ages of 7 and 12 months of age to be able to see or to be told by the parents that the infant was establishing joint attention.

For example; the infant beginning at 7 months, independent of whether or not they are keeping up with the appropriate vocalizations, begin to be able to focus not only on the parent but eye gaze to parent, to the desired object and than returning eye gaze to the parent is an example of a 7-12 month old evidencing the theory of mind, sharing information, an experience with their caregiver, not just demanding their time.

Assessment of the verbal ability of a subject can include but is not limited to measures of all the domains described herein: nonspeech oral-motor, speech production, prosody, voice, speech perception, language, and, for older children, linguistic/literacy skills. Of these, (a) inconsistent errors on consonants and vowels in repeated productions of syllables or words, (b) lengthened and disrupted coarticulatory transitions between sounds and syllables, (c) inappropriate prosody, especially in the realization of lexical or phrasal stress; (d) the inability to see a new word and to have the ability to identify and sequence in time and space the sounds not only by themselves but in relationship to one another to be able to produce to transform from a symbol, orthographic to sound representation but to do it according to the rules of language knowing where to divide the written symbols into units; (e) the inability to not only transform into sounds, but sounds in relationship in terms of speed and volume to have that word in the context have that meaning that the author of the written word wanted to convey. The cultural and linguistic background of each subject may optionally be assessed.

Metrics for quantitative assessment of the language ability include words per minute, three minute reading test, sentence complexity such as length in words, complexity of construction, etc. The number of correctly read syllables minuses the number of mistakes divided by the months of reading training may be used to assess the language ability development.

When treating a child who is incapable of communication, the child is tested with respect to language skills as well as visual-spatial comprehension skills. For example, a child may be asked to pronounce a few single syllable words, such as “ma, ma” “ba, ba” or to described a picture or read a few words. At the same time, the child's body motions and emotional interactions with other people are observed. If the child demonstrates a non-verbal age of at least 18 to 24 months, he or she may be capable of responding to medical intervention, a dopamine agonist to restore speech.

The medical intervention can be applied to children who are present on the apaxia pyramid, apraxia of speech and language who are at a minimum of 3 years of age and older having a demonstrable nonverbal mental age of between 18 and 24 months, independent of any and all medical conditions inclusive but not limited to speech and language delay, mental retardation, autism, autistic spectrum disorders, dyslexia, chromosomal disorders, muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy.

This is achieved by administering drugs enhancing the concentrating of dopamine, such as methylphenidate, dexamphetamine, in any of their formulations independent of immediate or slow release, independent of how the compound was created, tablet, gel, suspension, etc.

The assessment methods may include performance in multiple contexts (e.g., spontaneous, elicited, imitation; syllable, single-word, phrase, sentence, discourse). Known tests such as Apraxia Profile, Screening Test of Developmental Apraxia of Speech-2 and Verbal Motor Production Assessment for Children may be combined in assessment of the left brain hemisphere and the right brain hemisphere development.

There is no age limitation for this treatment method, but generally patients are children of 2 to 12 years age.

The treatment methods thus comprise administering dopamine agonist medicine, such as methylphenidate (Ritalin, MPH, MPD), Dexedrine, to a selected patient. The term “administer” and “administering” are used to mean introducing a therapeutic substance into the subject. The therapeutic administration of a substance serves to attenuate any symptom or prevent additional symptoms or causative events from arising.

Dopamine, a neurotransmitter, plays a role in feelings of pleasure and is naturally released in rewarding experiences. Neuroimaging studies of medication-free depressed patients have found that depressed subjects have a functional deficiency of synaptic dopamine. Dopamine decreases “background firing” rates and increases the signal to noise ratio in target neurons by increasing dopamine levels in the brain. As a result, the drug may improve synaptic interactions and communications between synapses.

Forms of methylphenidate useful in the present invention may include but are not limited to dextro-threo-methylphenidate (Focalin®), levomethylphenidate, and (racemic) dextro, levomethylphenidate (Ritalin). Methylphenidate is a chain substituted amphetamine derivative that primarily acts as a norepinephrine-dopamine reuptake inhibitor. Methylphenidate (MPH) is most active at modulating levels of dopamine and to a lesser extent noradrenaline. Key targets of methylphenidate are the dopamine transporter (DAT) and noradrenaline transporter (NET). MPH binds to and blocks DAT and NET, inhibiting the transport of the transporters' respective substrates. MPH may also act as a releasing agent by increasing the release of dopamine and norepinephrine. The useful dextro-methylphenidate enantiomers are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,528,530, issued Mar. 4, 2003 to Zeitlin et al. Dextro-threo-methylphenidate (Focalin®) is a most preferred methylphenidate.

The preferred psychostimulants are the lower alkyl phenidates, such as disclosed in Porthoghese and Malspeis, “Relative hydrolytic rates of certain alkyl (b) di-alpha-(2-piperidyl)-phenylacetates,” J. Pharm. Sci., 50:494-501, 1961, and Schweri, et al. “[3H] Threo-(+/)-methylphenidae binding to 3,4-dihydroxyphenylethylamine uptake sites in corpus striatum: correlation with the stimulant properties of ritalinic acid esters,” J. Neurochem., 45:1062-70, 1985. The preferred psychostimulants also specifically include the C₃ and C₄ nonlinear lower alkyl phenidates, including, by way of example, isopropyl, dextro-isopropyl, dextro-threo-isopropyl, sec-butyl, and t-butyl.

Alkyl phenidate enantiomers or isomers are known in the art as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,507,631, issued May 16, 1950 to Hartmann et al. U.S. Pat. No. 2,957,880, issued Oct. 25, 1960 to Rometsch, U.S. Pat. No. 5,908,850, issued Jun. 1, 1999 to Zeitlin et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 8,283,472, issued Oct. 9, 2012 to Haar Jr., et al., which disclosures are incorporated herein in their entireties by reference thereto. Nonlinear lower alkyl phenidates particularly including isopropyl phenidate is commercially available. Isolated alkylphenidate enantiomers, such as dextro-threo-methylphenidate, particularly including Focalin®, are commercially available.

Without wishing to be bound by any theory or mechanism, it is believed that the nonlinear lower alkyl phenidates provide hindrance to unwarranted esterfication or re-esterification which occurs with racemic methylphenidate. This esterification or re-esterification in turn causes well documented undesired side effects.

Dextroamphetamine is also a psychostimulant drug and is known to produce increased wakefulness and focus as well as decreased fatigue and decreased appetite. Dextroamphetamine is the dextrorotatory, or “right-handed”, stereoisomer of the amphetamine molecule. Dextroamphetamine includes d-amphetamine, dexamphetamine, dexamfetamine, and (S)-(+)-amphetamine, with brand names such as Dexedrine and Dextrostat, and in some countries is commercially available as dexamphetamine sulphate.

Dextroamphetamine administration increases the activity of the phosphoinositol cycle via an indirect release of dopamine and Norepinephrine. Because dextroamphetamine is a substrate analog at monoamine transporters, at all doses, dextroamphetamine prevents the reuptake of these neurotransmitters by competing with endogenous monoamines for uptake. Transporter inhibition causes monoamines to remain in the synaptic cleft for a prolonged period. The drug can trigger direct release of norepinephrine and dopamine from the cytoplasmic transmitter pool, i.e. norepinephrine and dopamine efflux via transporter proteins, functionally reversing transporter action, which triggers a cascading release of catecholamines. This inversion leads to a release of large amounts of these neurotransmitters from the cytoplasm of the pre-synaptic neuron into the synapse, causing increased stimulation of post-synaptic receptors.

In addition, dextroamphetamine increases dopamine release in the prefrontal cortex; activation of the dopamine-2 receptors inhibits glutamate release in the prefrontal cortex. Activation of the dopamine-1 receptors in the prefrontal cortex, however, results in elevated glutamate levels in the nucleus accumbens which in turn increase locomotor activity.

As used herein and unless otherwise indicated, the phrase “therapeutically effective amount” (or “pharmaceutically effective amount”) is measured by the therapeutic effectiveness of the substance. In one embodiment, the term “therapeutically effective amount” means an amount of a substance that is sufficient to provide the desired local or systemic effect and performance at a reasonable benefit/risk ratio attending any medical treatment. The response to the therapeutically effective amount may be a cellular, organ or tissue-specific response, or system or systemic response. In one respect, the phrase “therapeutically effective amount” of an administered substance is measured by the therapeutic effectiveness of the substance to improve language learning ability.

The same parameters used to diagnose the subject as having an apraxia-related disorder may be used to determine if the subject is demonstrating any type of improvement or lessening of symptoms. For example, an improvement in a subject may include but is not limited to, an increase in the number of correct phonemes when speaking, a more normal time spent enunciating words, the number of times the last consonant of a word is used correctly, the proper sequencing of words and events, appropriate sound intensity.

Depending where the patient is on the apraxia pyramid, for example vocalization, words, prosody, the number of words in the sentence, the number or types of words in the sentence, the grammar syntax, prosody, measuring the child to his/her previous ability 20-30 minutes ago in addition to medication. Unlike the treatment of ADHD, the restoring function and opening therapeutic pathways is long lasting after half life of the medicine.

Dosages of these therapeutic drugs can vary between a broad limits, depending upon the severity of disorder being treated, the age and condition of the individual to be treated, etc. A physician will ultimately determine appropriate dosages to be used. In one embodiment, MPH, Dexedrine or is administered in a single dose. In another embodiment, MPH, Dexedrine is administered in multiple doses. For example, in one specific embodiment, dosage is administered orally either once or in multiple doses at a dose of about 2.5 mg per dose. In another specific embodiment, MPH, Dexedrine or Gabapentin is administered orally either once or in multiple doses at a dose of about 5 mg per dose. In another specific embodiment, MPH, Dexedrine or Gabapentin is administered orally either once or in multiple doses at a dose of about 7.5 mg per dose. In one specific embodiment, MPH, Dexedrine or Gabapentin is administered orally either once or in multiple doses at a dose of about 10 mg per dose.

MPH, Dexedrine or Gabapentin may be administered long-term, including but not limited to the life of the subject. In another embodiment, the MPH, Dexedrine or Gabapentin is administered until the symptoms of the apraxia-related disorder have subsided or are reduced.

The examples herein are meant to illustrate only select embodiments of the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the inventive subject matter described herein. Any combination of any two or more of any of the embodiments described herein are contemplated.

The term “child” or children”, as used hereinbefore and hereinafter, includes young children and adolescents.

EXAMPLES Example 1

An 11 year autistic boy whose speech consisted of the spontaneous 2 word-3 word s, whose volitional response was at best rarely 1 words, mostly of the tone unintelligible, whose ability to imitate sounds was limited to occasionally repeating ma, ma after instructor. This was his best after approximately 8 years of special education services inclusive of speech and language. at the time of examination he was being taught sign language as the sole means of communication.

The 11 year old was determined to have a mental age equal to that of a 2 year old recognizing that 2 year olds have a vocabulary of between 50 and 300 words, use 2 words together, and have intelligible speech 25% of the time.

Thirty minutes after receiving 10 mg tablets of methylphenidate he was recorded (with the parents permission) before and after being given imitating the following sounds, words, and sentences in response. He was able to imitate “ma ma ma”, when shown a toy car and asked to repeat “car” after he was able to repeat “car”; when he was shown a bottle of water, he was able to express “dead, i wannnnnt waa tter”, a conversation with his father. This was an 11 year old whose sole means of communication being offered him was sign language.

Example 2

A three and half year old boy was under early intervention for a year. He was able to make normal eye contacts, but was unable to follow instruction in saying single syllables such as “ma” “ma”. The boy was determined to have a better than 24 month stage of nonverbal development, but less than 12 months development stage of verbal development. He was administered with one dosage of 5 mg of methylphenidate.

Half an hour later, this boy was able to follow instructions to mimic the sounds “ma” “ma” “ga” “ga”.

Example 3

An eight year old boy with normal facial expressions, but was having difficult in school and was under special aid program. He was able to answer questions as to “what is your name”, “how old are you”, “what is your mama's name” and to describe school activities in simple sequence. But when he was asked to describe the books he read in class, he was unable to describe any content of any books. Instead he described what actions the book had. He could not give one example of the stories taught in the class. He was determined to have a good non-verbal development, but impaired verbal development. The boy was administered with 5 mg of Dexedrine.

Half an hour later, the boy was able to state in sequence what he did in school with some details, and was able to describe a story about Abraham Lincoln and George Washington. He was also able to tell the difference of the word “compare” versus “contrast”, answer questions as to the differences between Abraham Lincoln and George Washington.

Example 4

An eight year old boy, third grade in school, but was not doing well in school, He was diagnosed of having speech and language learning disabilities. He was able to follow instructions and answer questions as to “w”.

What is your name?”, but could not tell his mother's name and his relation to his baby brother. He could state what he did in the morning in school, but could not describe the content of a class. He was determined to have a good non-verbal development, but impaired verbal development. The boy was administered 5 mg of Dexedrine.

Half an hour later, he was able to describe the content of his mathematic class, answer with some details about what he read in the class, the plants and moths. etc.

Example 5

A nine year old boy was diagnosed with dyslexia, was bale to make body motions and eye contacts. But he appeared not to understand questions. When he was asked to describe a picture, he gestured with his fingers to point to the picture, but could not describe the picture with words. His reading of a sentence was not intelligible. The boy was determined to have a good non-verbal development but impaired verbal development. He was administered with 10 mg of methylphenidate.

Half an hour later, this boy was able to read a sentence with smooth pronunciations, and the reading was smooth even with new words.

Example 6

A twelve year old boy was able to answer questions as to age, school name, what he did in the class. But he was not able to describe the content of the math class, unable to provide an example of what he did. He described the actions of reading a book, watching a movie, but unable to describe the content of a book or a class. The boy was determined to have a good level of non-verbal development, but impaired verbal development. He was administered 10 mg of Dexedrine.

Half an hour later, the boy was able to describe the content of his English lass and the sections of the class learned with some details. He also was able to tell the story of Christopher Columbus with some details, and answer questions with logic and reasoning as to how to use a compos to travel the globe.

Example 7

A two year and seven month old girl having chromosome 15 duplication was unable to make any sounds, or understand any instruction. She was diagnosed as autism or mental retardation. But she was able to hold a pen with correct hand gestures, and was able to bodily interact with her mother. She was determined to have at least 2 years old of nonverbal development, but less than 6 month verbal development. The girl was administered with 2.5 mg of methylphenidate.

Thirty minutes later, the girl was able to make sounds of “ma mi”, mimic “bye”, “bye” and babble with sounds.

She was administered 2.5 mg of methylphenidate a day for two to three months. The follow up on her showed good progress in speaking sounds.

Example 8

An 11 years old girl who could not talk and walk after 10 years of speech therapy was only able to repeat “ba ba,” “la la” and two words in Spanish. She was able to wave hands and clapping, albeit with right elbow in fixed gesture. Her nonverbal and verbal development was about 2 years old.

After 30 minutes of treatment with a 5 mg of methylphenidate, she was able to repeat two syllable words, and was able to say “love you” and able to use her leg to stomped and sense the floor when hold to walk.

Examples 9A and 9B

Examples 9A and 9B represent identical twin girls (Participants 9A and 9B). Participants 9A and 9B were born to a substance abusive mother. At birth, they were diagnosed with fetal alcohol syndrome, cerebral palsy and spastic diplegic. At age 3, they were diagnosed with no language skills.

At the initial visit/examination pursuant to the present invention, Participants 9A and 9B were 13 years of age.

At the time of the initial examination, Participant 9A had been in special education and was being considered being demoted to a life skills class.

The medical examination determined that Participant 9A was diagnosed with an apraxia of speech. Participant 9A had no volitional speech. Participant 9A could not answer simple questions. Participant 9A also had gait impairments or abnormalities.

After a second visit/examination, Participant 9A began a regimen of 5 mg methylphenidate/day. After a month, in a third visit/examination there was no significant improvement in speech. The regimen was changed to 10 mg methylphenidate/day.

In a fourth visit/examination about a month later, Participant 9A was now able to understand the story line of a children's book. The regimen was changed to 10 mg Focalin®/day

In a fifth visit/examination, about two weeks later, Participant 9A was able to answer questions about her daily life in clear speech and language and provide a narrative and explain reasons and actions.

Participant 9B was diagnosed with a more severe apraxia of speech than Participant 9A. This disorder was so severe that she was initially diagnosed as mentally retarded.

The same regimen for Participant 9A was prescribed for Participant 9B.

After the foregoing regimen, particularly including the Focalin®, there was an improvement in speech and comprehension. Participant 9B in time was recorded as comprehending a 7 grade essay on the New York State Core Curriculum examination.

In reference to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3. A total of nine children who had a good level of nonverbal development, but were not functioning well with reading and language skills were administered with 5 mg of methylphenidate. They were tested for three minute reading before and after administering the medicine. The mistakes in pronouncing syllables were counted. The correct pronunciation ratios (divided by the total number of syllables read) were compared between the pre-administering the drug and after administering the drug. All nine children showed some improvement, varying from 11% to 300% improvement. Most of them had least 40% improvement.

It will be understood that in determining a developmental age of a child of approximately 18 to 24 months of age, a complementary determination includes, but is not limited to the following queries:

-   -   a. Is the child able to speak between 50-300 words of which 25%         are intelligible? Is the child able to identify 10 body parts         upon inquiry?     -   b. Has the child developed imaginary play?     -   c. Is the child able to pick up a drawing instrument about a         mid-section and make markings with the same upon paper?     -   d. Is the child able to demonstrate a theory of mind as         determined by a professional diagnostician?

Having described at least one of the preferred embodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings, it will be apparent to those skills that the invention is not limited to those precise embodiments, and that various modifications and variations can be made in the presently disclosed system without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. Thus, it is intended that the present disclosure cover modifications and variations of this disclosure provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

None of the description in the present application should be read as implying that any particular element, step, or function is an essential element which must be included in the claim scope: the scope of patented subject matter is defined only by the allowed claims. Moreover, none of these claims are intended to invoke paragraph six of 35 USC section 112 unless the exact words “means for” are followed by a participle.

The claims as filed are intended to be as comprehensively and likeably interpreted as permissible, and no subject matter is relinquished, dedicated, or abandoned. 

1.-2. (canceled)
 3. A method for treating an apraxia of speech in a child in need of such treatment, said method comprises: (a) administering a therapeutically effective dose of a nonlinear lower alkyl phenidate to the child; whereby the apraxia of speech impairment is diminished.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the nonlinear lower alkyl phenidate comprises an isopropylphenidate.
 5. The method of claim 3, wherein the nonlinear lower alkyl comprises C₃ or C₄.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the nonlinear lower alkyl comprises isobutyl, sec-butyl or t-butyl.
 7. (canceled)
 8. A pharmaceutical intervention for treating an apraxia of speech in a child in need of such treatment, said pharmaceutical intervention comprises: a nonlinear lower alky phenidate; whereby the apraxia of speech is diminished.
 9. The pharmaceutical intervention of claim 8, said nonlinear lower alkyl comprises isopropyl.
 10. (canceled)
 11. A pharmaceutical intervention for treating an apraxia of speech in a child in need of such treatment, said pharmaceutical intervention comprises a daily regimen of a therapeutically effective dose of a nonlinear lower alkyl phenidate.
 12. The pharmaceutical intervention of claim 11, said nonlinear lower alkyl phenidate comprises isopropylphenidate.
 13. (canceled) 